“You’ve converted me into a kale lover,” a friend declared after eating a hearty bowl of this kale with sausage and white beans. Yay! I love it when I hear things like this. At our house a green vegetable is always served with dinner, and half the time it’s some sort of green like chard, kale, spinach, mustard greens, or collards. It’s my not-so-secret mission in my heart of hearts to convert everyone to loving their greens. Of course, it’s hard to go wrong when you mix kale with Italian sausage and white beans. But, baby steps people. Baby steps.
Kale with Sausage and White Beans Recipe
We used curly kale for this recipe, but you could use any kale, as well as chard, turnip greens, beet greens, or collards. A splash of vinegar (sherry, red wine, cider) is a nice touch right at the end of cooking.
Add to shopping list
INGREDIENTS
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 pound bulk sweet Italian sausage, or other sausage (use gluten-free sausage if cooking gluten-free)
- 1 onion, sliced thin (about 1 1/2 cup's worth of sliced onions)
- 2 large garlic cloves, sliced thin
- 1 pound kale (1 large bunch), center thick rib removed, leaves roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 15-ounce can of white beans, rinsed and drained
- Salt and pepper
METHOD
1 Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and add the bulk sausage; if you can't find bulk sausage, remove the casings on the links. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then add the onion slices and turn the heat to high. Cook until the edges of the onions brown, about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
2 Add the kale, sprinkle salt over everything, then add the chicken stock. Cover the pan, lower the heat to medium and cook for 2 minutes.
3 Uncover, mix everything well (the kale will have cooked down by now) and add the beans. Cover the pot again and lower the heat to low. Cook another 5 minutes, then turn off the heat. Let stand 5 minutes, then serve.